The present invention relates generally to children's vehicles and, more particularly, to a steering mechanism for children's vehicles such as wagons.
Children's wagons have long been popular play items. They often feature a body constructed of steel, plastic or wood that includes a floor surrounded by sidewalls so that cargo may be hauled. Alternatively, a child may sit or kneel on the floor of the wagon. A pair of rear wheels are typically mounted to the underside of the rear portion of the wagon floor while a bolster is pivotally mounted in the fashion of a turntable to the underside of the front portion of the wagon floor. A pair of front wheels are mounted to the bolster as is a pivoting handle. The wagon may be pulled by the handle which may also be used to steer the front wheels by pivoting the bolster. The handle may also be rotated back towards the rear of the wagon so that the handle may be accessed by a wagon passenger when the wagon is used “coaster” style.
The bolsters of such wagons, however, may only be pivoted a limited amount to protect against tipping the wagon during turning. As a result, such wagons are typically constructed with a “limited turning” feature, such as the one illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,575 to Tonelli. A disadvantage of including this feature is that the wagon has a larger turning radius. This makes the wagon more difficult to maneuver. In addition, such wagons may be difficult to turn, especially on rough surfaces, as each of the front wheels must traverse an arc as the bolster pivots during turning.
Automotive-style steering mechanisms have been employed on children's wagons and address the issues of the wagons of the above paragraph. An example of such a steering mechanism is illustrated in FIGS. 1A through 1C, where the wagon handle is pivotally attached to tongue 20. While such a mechanism functions well when the wagon is traveling generally straight forward, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, a pinching hazard exists when the wagon is turned, as illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C. More specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, as the wagon is turned, one of the mechanism torque arms 22 pivots towards cross member 24. In addition, the tie rod 26 moves toward the cross member 24. As illustrated in FIG. 1C, when the wagon makes sharp turns, the torque arm 22 and tie rod 26 actually nearly contact the cross member 24. As a result, a child's fingers, hands or other body parts may become pinched between the torque arm 22 and/or tie rod and the cross member 24 when the mechanism is actuated in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1B and 1C. A need exists for a steering mechanism for children's wagons that avoids such a “scissor” action and resulting pinching hazard.